Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton declined Sunday to say that a “radical” form of Islam is behind terror attacks connected to the Islamic State and other such attacks committed by fringe members of the Muslim religion.

“I don't want to do that because, No. 1, it doesn't do justice to the vast numbers of Muslims in our own country and around the world who are peaceful people,” she told ABC’s “This Week.”

Clinton spoke four days after Muslim husband-wife couple Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik shot and killed 14 people and wounded dozens of others at an office complex in San Bernardino, Calif.

Her comments are among the latest in an intense debate on whether to call Muslims who commit terror strikes such as the recent ones in California, Paris attacks last month and on Sept. 11, 2001, “radical Islamists” or “Islamic extremists.”

President Obama, set to make an Oval Office address to the America public Sunday night about domestic terror, has also been criticized for not using either term. He has instead used the term “violent extremists,” using an argument similar to Clinton’s.

On the 2016 presidential campaign trail, leading GOP candidate Donald Trump recently called out Obama on the issue.“Radical Islamic terrorism,” Trump said at an event Friday. “We have a president that refuses to use the term. …"There's something going on with him that we don't know about."

On Sunday, Clinton also defended saying publicly, as secretary of state, that Benghazi terror attacks were inspired by an anti-Islamic video, blaming “the fog of war.”

Recently released emails from Clinton reveal intelligence suggested the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on a U.S. outpost in Benghazi, Libya, were terror related.

“Other emails indicate Clinton knew the attacks were terror related, then told the American public otherwise.

Four Americans were killed in the attacks.

Clinton acknowledged Sunday that the San Bernardino massacre was a “terrorist attack” and predicted that Obama will announce an "intensification" of existing strategy to fight ISIS, a move she supports.

“Nobody is arguing with that,” she said.

Still, Clinton said the recent massacre, in which the couple appeared to have used legally purchased assault-style rifles, underscores the need for tighter gun control.

“We have to take account … our gun laws and the easy access to those guns by people who shouldn't get them.

She cited the mentally ill, fugitives, felons and Congress “continuing to refuse to prohibit people on the ‘no-fly’ list from getting guns, which include a lot of domestic and international terrorists.”

As Clinton has in the past, she also called for comprehensive background checks for potential gun buyers.

“We need to close the gun show loophole, close the online loophole … and end the liability for gun sellers,” she said.

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz
has condemned the growing wave of campus protests in the US as a
product of “pampered teenagers who are scared of an idea that challenges
their world view”.
Speaking to the Guardian on a swing through Iowa, the 44-year-old
Texas senator – increasingly seen as a potential unity candidate for Republicans – was disdainful of protesters who staged an occupation protest last month at his alma mater, Princeton.

Students have called for the Wilson School of Public and
International Affairs on campus to be stripped of the name of two-term
Democratic president Woodrow Wilson because of his racism and efforts to
promote segregation in the federal workforce.

“I think it is more than a little ironic that the activities are
targeting a leftist progressive Democrat like Woodrow Wilson,” Cruz
said. “I am not a fan of Woodrow Wilson. I think his policies did a
great deal of damage to this country, but that being said I think the
protesters at Princeton who are embracing this radical political
correctness where they are claiming a right to be offended at anything
they deem contrary to their vision of the world – that is completely
antithetical to the mission of a university.”

Wilson was a key figure in American political history, overseeing the
creation of the Federal Reserve and leading the US in the first world
war, but campus protesters have targeted his well-documented racism,
which included firing many black government employees.

Cruz said: “Was Woodrow Wilson an unmitigated racist? Of course he
was. Should we denounce it and call it out for what it was? Yes. But the
idea that we should somehow be sanitizing our history because our ears
are too fragile to recognize that the course of human existence has been
a complicated course beset with human frailty – that undermines the
entire purpose of a university.”
In the wide-ranging interview with the Guardian, Cruz also declined
to weigh in on efforts to implement a mandatory reporting system for
police-involved shootings. The federal government currently does not
collect data on these incidents. Through The Counted project, the Guardian has tallied more than 1,000 people killed by the police in the US. FBI director James Comey has said
it is “unacceptable” that the Guardian has better information on this
subject than the federal government. Cruz simply said: “I am a big
defender of the first amendment and the rights of journalists to pursue
stories, I think that is important,” adding that tracking
police-involved shootings was “the Guardian’s prerogative”.

He condemned what he called “a very problematic tendency under the
Obama administration of vilifying police officers” and said “there is
absolutely a Ferguson effect”, linking the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement to rising crime rates in minority communities.
Cruz noted that Baltimore had a drastic increase in murders after the unrest
following the death of Freddie Gray in April. “After the riots there
were 45 murders in the city of Baltimore in July. It was the bloodiest
month in Baltimore history since the 1970s,” said Cruz. “Of those 45
murders, 43 of those victims were African Americans, so you look at a
movement like Black Lives Matter – of course black lives matter – and
what about those 43 African Americans who lost their lives to murders?”
Cruz saw Democratic contempt for law enforcement as a phenomena that
was not exclusive to the Obama administration. He cited the December
2014 funeral “when the NYPD stood up and turned their backs on Mayor de
Blasio” as “a moment that stood out and cut through”.

On the question of Syrian refugees, Cruz, a vocal opponent of
admitting any to the US, thought the solution was simple. “America needs
to lead,” he said. “We should destroy Isis. That would go a long way
towards ending this refugee crisis.”

He insisted that the US could demonstrate that “we are a
compassionate and loving people who are responding to this crisis”
without allowing any refugees to enter the country.
The Texas Republican also continued to refuse to criticize Republican
frontrunner Donald Trump. Cruz connected Trump to the increased
viewership of the televised presidential debates. “I am very grateful
for Donald Trump
for bringing all those millions of extra eyeballs to the debate and
giving people a chance to hear my message,” he said. Cruz also praised
the real-estate mogul for “attracting so much energy and passion to the
race”.

However, Cruz said he felt the questioning about Trump was merely
academic. “I don’t think Donald Trump is going to be the nominee,” said
Cruz. “I like Donald, I respect Donald. I don’t believe he is going to
be the nominee.” Instead, the Republican firebrand was convinced that it
would be him leading the GOP in November 2016.

He condemned what he called “a very problematic tendency under the
Obama administration of vilifying police officers” and said “there is
absolutely a Ferguson effect”, linking the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement to rising crime rates in minority communities.
Cruz noted that Baltimore had a drastic increase in murders after the unrest
following the death of Freddie Gray in April. “After the riots there
were 45 murders in the city of Baltimore in July. It was the bloodiest
month in Baltimore history since the 1970s,” said Cruz. “Of those 45
murders, 43 of those victims were African Americans, so you look at a
movement like Black Lives Matter – of course black lives matter – and
what about those 43 African Americans who lost their lives to murders?”
Cruz saw Democratic contempt for law enforcement as a phenomena that
was not exclusive to the Obama administration. He cited the December
2014 funeral “when the NYPD stood up and turned their backs on Mayor de
Blasio” as “a moment that stood out and cut through”.

On the question of Syrian refugees, Cruz, a vocal opponent of
admitting any to the US, thought the solution was simple. “America needs
to lead,” he said. “We should destroy Isis. That would go a long way
towards ending this refugee crisis.”

He insisted that the US could demonstrate that “we are a
compassionate and loving people who are responding to this crisis”
without allowing any refugees to enter the country.
The Texas Republican also continued to refuse to criticize Republican
frontrunner Donald Trump. Cruz connected Trump to the increased
viewership of the televised presidential debates. “I am very grateful
for Donald Trump
for bringing all those millions of extra eyeballs to the debate and
giving people a chance to hear my message,” he said. Cruz also praised
the real-estate mogul for “attracting so much energy and passion to the
race”.

However, Cruz said he felt the questioning about Trump was merely
academic. “I don’t think Donald Trump is going to be the nominee,” said
Cruz. “I like Donald, I respect Donald. I don’t believe he is going to
be the nominee.” Instead, the Republican firebrand was convinced that it
would be him leading the GOP in November 2016.

He condemned what he called “a very problematic tendency under the
Obama administration of vilifying police officers” and said “there is
absolutely a Ferguson effect”, linking the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement to rising crime rates in minority communities.

Cruz noted that Baltimore had a drastic increase in murders after the unrest
following the death of Freddie Gray in April. “After the riots there
were 45 murders in the city of Baltimore in July. It was the bloodiest
month in Baltimore history since the 1970s,” said Cruz. “Of those 45
murders, 43 of those victims were African Americans, so you look at a
movement like Black Lives Matter – of course black lives matter – and
what about those 43 African Americans who lost their lives to murders?”

Cruz saw Democratic contempt for law enforcement as a phenomena that
was not exclusive to the Obama administration. He cited the December
2014 funeral “when the NYPD stood up and turned their backs on Mayor de
Blasio” as “a moment that stood out and cut through”.

On the question of Syrian refugees, Cruz, a vocal opponent of
admitting any to the US, thought the solution was simple. “America needs
to lead,” he said. “We should destroy Isis. That would go a long way
towards ending this refugee crisis.”

He insisted that the US could demonstrate that “we are a
compassionate and loving people who are responding to this crisis”
without allowing any refugees to enter the country.
The Texas Republican also continued to refuse to criticize Republican
frontrunner Donald Trump. Cruz connected Trump to the increased
viewership of the televised presidential debates. “I am very grateful
for Donald Trump
for bringing all those millions of extra eyeballs to the debate and
giving people a chance to hear my message,” he said. Cruz also praised
the real-estate mogul for “attracting so much energy and passion to the
race”.
However, Cruz said he felt the questioning about Trump was merely
academic. “I don’t think Donald Trump is going to be the nominee,” said
Cruz. “I like Donald, I respect Donald. I don’t believe he is going to
be the nominee.” Instead, the Republican firebrand was convinced that it
would be him leading the GOP in November 2016.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/02/ted-cruz-princeton-protests-policing-syrian-refugees?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+USA+-+Version+CB+header&utm_term=141018&subid=13454200&CMP=ema_565b